Queer Events
by Rosie eisoR
Summary: Numair married Lady Jeanett no, you're not supposed to know her . But he still loved Daine. So Daine was... taken care of. Over, hopefully being revised.
1. Recollections

Chapter 1; Mysterious occurences 

"Look, Papa," Leanne said pleadingly. As always, her brooding father pushed her aside. "Papa? It took me ages?" The shadowy man (Leanne thought secretly he might be made of shadows) glanced briefly down at the exquisite cake, nodded very slightly, and then turned away, back to his beloved books.

"Why do you always ignore me? You never have any time for me, or Mama." He didn't seemed to be appalled, as she had hoped, but he _did, finally_ react, and pulled her on to his knee. She couldn't ever remember being this close to him.

"Papa's best friend died. Just give me some time to get over it, then I'll be fine."

"You've been upset for years. You must have been very close to him."

"Her." He smiled; a rare expression upon his face. "I loved her very much."

"Tell me about her." Leanne settled into a comfortable place in the mage's lap. She was determined to make him talk to her, even if he drifted away into fantasies where she couldn't follow.

"She was amazing. Never met anyone like her. She was very pretty and adored animals." A wry touch appeared in his smile. "She was also very obstinate."

"What did she look like?"

"Blue-grey eyes, curly brown hair, and a smile that made you feel special."

"Do you have any pictures?" This lady was intriguing.

Her father rolled his left sleeve up, and a gold chain was revealed. The miniature portrait inside showed a happy teenager, just like Leanne's father had told her. Accompanying the picture was a smokey-brown curl.

"What was her name?"

"Daine. Veralidaine Sarrasri."

Leanne's lip curled. Illegitimate children were born of prostitutes, everyone knew that. Any previous respect she had kept for her father vanished. Getting upset over some idiot was silly.

She jumped off his lap. Her father had collapsed back into memories, where he was evidently happiest.

--

"Mama? Can we eat my cake? Mama, where are you?" Leanne found her mother. About to speak, she saw Lady Jeanett was busy with a servant. She was about to slip away, but something stopped her.

"It's been five years! FIVE YEARS!"

The servant's mumble was difficult to hear. "Ev'ry grave we tried was dug up right after. I've left it in t'cellar."

"THE CELLAR!" Only then did Leanne's mother remember to hush her voice."Fool," she hissed. "The amount I pay you should be more than enough."

"We'll try Carthak next," the unfamiliar servant promised. Leanne's mother scowled, then nodded, thick brown hair hardly affected by the fingers she was running through it feverishly.  
Then the servant and Leanne's mother parted. Leanne considered what she had just heard.

There were a lot of ignorant gaps in her knowledge. Obviously, the best thing to do was to see what was being kept in the cellar.

--

Creeping down the cold stairs to the underground cellar, a stench reached Leanne's sensitive nose. She sneezed twice, nearly blowing out her candle.

A trunk seemed to be the cause of the smell. Gingerly, she tiptoed towards it, careful not to make any suspicious tracks in the thick dust. Before opening the lid, she hesitated. Did she really want to expose her mother's dark secret? Deciding her mother had no big secrets really (her curiosity was running high), she flipped the lid open. And screamed.

--

What did you think? What is Lady Jeanett's secret? Oh, by the way, Lady Jeanett is married to Numair, who is Leanne's dad. I've taken a slight break frm Wedding Bells, seeing as it's gettin a bit confusing. Please review this story. You can review any of my others, you know! (cough hint hint cough) Thanks to any who do review.


	2. Discovery

Leanne closed her brown eyes. It's just your imagination, she told herself. Nothing more. Slowly opening her eyes, she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out again. She should have known that scent could only belong to one thing. Gathering her courage, she prodded the body.

In a rush of panic, Leanne realised she could feel herself seeping into the dead woman.

Suddenly, the scene shifted. A flash of silvery mist flew across the young girl's vision. Leanne was in a hallway she dimly recognised as her own. Two women stood near her. One she saw was her mother, Lady Jeanett. The other was of medium height, with long brown curls and tearful blue-grey eyes.

"Mama?" Leanne stepped between the two women. Neither responded. This must be a magical working, like in Papa's books, Leanne thought. She considered her Mama's companion for a minute. Wasn't that the dead woman from the painting, the one her Papa had been friends with? What was her name? Veralidaine Sarrasri.

"What are you doing here?" Startled, Leanne looked up, before understanding that the question was directed at Veralidaine.

"I had to see him."

"I told you to keep away from him!"

"You're the only one who wants that! I love Numair, and he loves me."

"The greatest mage in Tortall can't love the offspring of a hedgewitch. I've never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life."

Veralidaine raised her head. "Oh no. He's far more likely to love a slut. But, so long as it brings the money in, hey?"

"Are you calling me a prostitute?"

Her eyes sparked. "Each to her own."

Leanne's mother narrowed her eyes. "You will pay for that. You will pay for everything you've done." She drew a dagger, until then unseen, from behind her back.

Leanne sensed Veralidaine wouldn't have been so rash if she'd known what Lady Jeanett was capable of. She looked extremely frightened. Rubbing her cheek, her voice could barely be known as a whisper when she next spoke. "I'll keep away from him." Mockingly, the older woman shook her head. Veralidaine swallowed, panicking. "I'll leave the country, forever, I promise."

Again, the taller brunette shook her head. "I want you out of his memories forever."

The smaller woman began to back away, her breath coming short. A nervous smile appeared on her face. "How would you explain my death?"

"I wouldn't." Jeanett traced a finger along the edge of the knife. A shallow slit began to bleed heavily, transforming her white skin. Veralidaine had walked herself into a corner, with no place to run.

Leanne watched, horrified, as her mother advanced on Veralidaine. She saw the whole thing; the blade being dug into the younger woman's chest, Veralidaine dropping to the floor, a cloth being produced to stop the blood. Blood was everywhere. There seemed to be no end. Tears were flowing down Leanne's face. She was desperate to hide, to shut her eyes, anything to get rid of the picture in front of her. Something in her made her keep watching, as the blade was cleaned, as the servant was called to remove the body, and paid to keep his silence, and finally the lifeless body being dragged away.

Leanne saw her mother wipe her hands clean, of both the blood and the incident, and walk away. Finally, she managed to close her eyes, feeling, with a sense of distinct relief, that her body was returning.

Her mother was a murderess. The very thought chilled Leanne. _My mother killed an innocent person._

At that moment, footsteps echoed down the stairs.

--

Well, that's enough for today. Whew; I updated 3 fics and started a new 1, all in 1 day! And, I still found time to review other people's work.  
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
I know I killed Daine! God, I've only been a member since May 16th, and already I've killed Alanna twice, Thayet, Roald, Alanna and Jon's predecessors, Daine, Raoul, a Scanran prince, a Copper Isle Queen, AND a Carthaki general! Quite a lot, for 1 person, in just over a month! Is it me, or am I morbid?  
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Voices in the Dark

"Hello?" Leanne didn't reply to her mother's icy question, knowing that she wasn't meant to be down there. Her eyes cirlced the room, looking for an escape route. Finding none (the only one being blocked by her mother's slim figure), she shrunk a little more into the corner, and hoped for the best. "Now what have we here?"

Leanne's eyes widened; she had been discovered! The image of the dagger flashed through her mind, the death scene was re-enacted in a few short snaps. Her breath was becoming panicked. If Leanne was disposed of, there would be no one to warn her father; no one to keep-

"Still causing trouble, I see." Leanne opened her mouth to speak - her mouth had begun to shape around words - "Now you would have thought death would have cured you of that. Thank the Black God it keeps you from answering back."

_Death? But I'm not..._ All Leanne's confusion was solved by her mother (why had she been born to this monster?)'s next actions. The lady knelt at the chest Leanne was hiding behind and, as Leanne's heart was beating madly, opened the large object to reveal the body. "He still loves you. I can cure him of that."

How? No mortal medicine can cure love! Obviously Leanne's mother (she had to be adopted. Lady Jeannett probably wasn't intelligent enough to actually give birth herself) enjoyed talking to dead bodies. A morbid thought, perhaps, but still the action was worse.

"Now what shall we do with you? Burn? Drown? I quite like burning, myself, but the smell is simply dreadful." She's done it before? "Would you like to be burned?" Leanne grinned, thinking of the shock her adoptive (well, not definitely, but Leanne was certain) mother would have if the body started talking. Wait... hadn't that spell in her father's books...

"Personally, I'd prefer for _you_ to die."

Lady Jeannett gasped.

"What?"

This spell is amazing! Of course, it sounded more like a grown-up Leanne, but she couldn't help that. "Gone deaf, Jeannett?"

Her mother gave out what sounded like a strangled swear word, before running out of the cellar, presumably to find some help. Leanne took her chance, and fled the cellar too.

"Leanne, what are you doing near the cellar?"

---

Ooh, who is it? I finish school next week! Yay! Then I'm on holiday! So, unless I get reviews cough hint hint cough telling me to continue, you'll have to wait three weeks to find out who it is!


	4. Lady Jeanett

'It's alright. Just breathe in. And out. Breathe in. And out.'

"Leanne?" Her mother's sharp voice cut through her concentration. "I asked you a question."

"I came to find you. Can we cut my cake?"

"I didn't see you go in there, and I had my eyes on the cellar for the whole time I've been out."  
"Yes, I went in there before you." 'Goddess, I am thick! What did I just do! Please help me, Great Mother. Protect me, please.'

Her mother's eyes were narrowed in suspicion. "What did you see?" Her voice was thick with warning.

"See? Was I meant to see anything?" Fear changed Leanne's voice into a high falsetto.

"There was a trunk down there. Did you look in the trunk?"

"Was I supposed to? I didn't see a trunk."

"Leanne." A warning note rang in her mother's tone. "Don't play me for a fool. You saw her, didn't you?" When Jeanett received no reply, she repeated her question. "Didn't you?"

"What do you want me to say, Mama? Yes, I know you've killed somebody. Yes, I know that it was out of jealousy? Yes, I know it was Papa's love? Yes, I know that you're a murdering cow?"

Jeanett staggered back slightly, not having expected that much admission. It was only fleeting. Her face turned cruel and nasty, like the mother figure had been a cover for this horrible witch of a woman. Leanne thought that she had gone too far.

"I see. Well, Veralidaine Sarrasri had to be... disposed of-"

"Killed to satisfy your plot."

"Because she posed a threat to your father's well-being. You, knowing what you do, are also a threat."

Leanne, being the precocious child she was, understood the threat. "But... I'm your child... You wouldn't..."

"Wouldn't I?"

Numair's daughter realised what Jeanett intended. The most powerful mage in the Eastern Lands was a pretty good fish, and Jeanett was not about to let him slip away. Even if it meant murdering. Even if that was her own daughter.

"If you did, Papa would know." Jeanett pondered over this; Leanne ran.

Bursting into Numair's study, her eyes flickered over the room, before realising that her father was not in the room. Panic filled her chest. Now she had no protection, and her mother would...

"Leanne?" She whirled around. 

--

What did you think? Listening to Blink 182 "Rock show". I hope this chapter's ok. I failed with Unhinged and More than Words. I wish I could do cliffhangers. Wistful sigh. Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a pretty box, and if you've bothered to colour it, it shows what good taste you have! (I'm a right suck-up)


	5. Numair

"Papa," Leanne breathed with relief. 

Numair smiled at the small child. "Leoni-"

"Leanne," she muttered.

"I'm a little busy. Could you come back later?"

"No, Papa. No, I couldn't." She glared up at her - very - tall father. He was ridiculing her, and she hated it. "Veralidaine Sarrasri?"

"What about her?" He was listening now. Biased idiot.

She took a deep breath in, the picture of the trunk wedged firmly in her mind. Goddess, how did she say this? "Her body's down in the cellar."

"That's impossible!" Numair, who had been patronising her by kneeling so he was her level, rose up.

"Come and see."

Her eyes flashed into his.

Daine...

"Papa, she's in the cellar."

"She can't be," he whispered brokenly.

As much as she looked up to him, she looked down on him. For ignoring her, she viewed him as a self-absorbed idiot with no emotions. She prefered proper people - Sirs Keladry, Nealan, Alanna, Owen... Sir Alanna's husband was always kind, and the Prince was friendly. They just proved that people did act normally. So, she had no sympathy for her false parents.

"Mama killed her."

"That's impossible! Is this a cry for attention?" He peered into her mask of fury. She spat in his face.

"I hope she kills you, you weak-willed fool," she scorned. He scowled - well, she thought he might have done. By then, she was running out of the room, so she didn't know. She slumped on a tree stump. What could she do?

"Leanne." The sharp voice caught her attention. "You told him." Jeannett's cold eyes flickered in Leanne's mind, so she couldn't tell if her mother was there or not. Until the hand reached out.

--

Back in his study, Numair set down his quill, musing. Obviously, his daughter had been struck by some wild fancy - some flight of the imagination caught by that picture he had shown her earlier.

Perhaps she was just trying to get his attention. He winced at the thought, wondering if he had been too caught up in his work of late.

He would try harder, he decided. Right after he had finished this set of scrolls, he would - take Leanne riding, or whatever young girls liked to do.

--

Sorry it's so strange. I wanted to get a fic up, cos I'm gonna be away next week. Oh the advantages of being British. Half-term... I might not come out alive; a week with the family! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!


	6. Living with Regret

Jeannett's delicate brows were creased in pain, fury and sorrow. She collapsed on the bed, breathing hard. The only sounds in the empty room were her desperate gasps and the shaky sobs wracking her slim body. However, the silence didn't carry through to her head, where chaos reigned. She pressed icy hands to her temples, hoping that coolness would rid her mind of that everlasting echo. It didn't.

_"Mama." The lithe brunette's jaw was determinedly forward. Jeannett examined her daughter. A certain wryness overtook her features._

_She gripped the frail arm with her jewel-adorned fingers, watching as the diamonds caught the light of the sun. "Child, do not cross me," she hissed. She had gotten too far to be stopped by a brat, even by her own brat._

_Leanne's face was set, no emotion present to tell her mood by. She looked so much like her handsome father, like a panther about to pounce on its prey. She could almost see the ripple of muscle as it prepared to fly through the air._

_"Mother, do not mock me."_

_Jeannett's heavily coated eyes soared to the sky. _Precocious infant_, she thought condescendingly, no memory stirring of her own spoilt youth. "I mock you because you are a silly baby, toying in affairs above your head."_

_"Then I'll take them to Papa again," Leanne returned, smugly. _

_Jeannett drew in a deep breath, chest rising with panic and falling with relief. If the child went to Numair, he'd know about Daine! Her reputation would be ruined! Well, she'd have to deal with Leanne._

_"You won't have the chance to." Grimly, Jeannette's hold tightened and she dragged her protesting daughter to the cellar._

Jeannett's eyes closed, the carefully applied powder on her face ruined by the tracks of tears. "Why?" she asked, voice thumping inside her throat. "What made me so power-hungry, so desperate to be accepted in society?" Maybe that was her personality. Some people were just born to do something… No, no use blaming it on anyone else. That would never change the fact that it was_her_ fault.

No amount of striving to please, pretty dresses or straight posture had taken her anywhere. Numair's friends had never been her friends. They had never given her a chance… or maybe she hadn't let them give her a chance.

She had blamed it all on Veralidaine. It had been easy to persuade herself that everyone hated her because a jealous Veralidaine was spreading spiteful rumours about their relationship.

But it hadn't been like that.

_"And this is Lady Jeannett, a close friend of mine."_

_Numair Salmalin swept her an elegant bow. Jeannett fought a smile as his passionate shadowy eyes met hers. Later, she was to learn that the shadows were sore memories, sharp scars newly formed by his break-up with Daine. But now, she was an innocent, as fresh as the roses that lay carefully in the huge stone vases._

_"Lady Jeannett, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance," he breathed, touching his lips on her rings._

_She withdrew it, demurely casting her eyes on the floor. "I trust I have learnt more about your talents, for yours are far more far-reaching than my own pitiful claims."_

_A whisper reached her ears – "Not sure about that. She's probably well-known at the brothel."_

_Jeannett didn't even flick a glance at the remarker, merely opened her mouth into a smile. He would be hers._

Jeannett Salmalin, how grand that had sounded to begin with! Exotic, powerful… rich. She had thought that people would be open-mouthed with awe at hearing the name belonging to the wife of a black robe mage. _She_ would have. Tortallans that mattered believed you had to get places by yourself, not hang on more deserving others. If only that had been clear from the beginning… Now she was trying to lay blame where none could be set down. It wasn't working.

_"I'll do anything you want, I promise. I'll stay away from him forever. Just please… don't tear us apart."_

_Jeannett regarded the sharp point of the knife. "I want you out of the way forever."_

The knife had been exhilarating to plunge through Veralidaine. The power of having life balanced in one's hands. The beauty of draining it away… Drop by drop. Weaker every second. The foe slowly ceased to have existence, to have a hold on living being's life. Or that's what she had thought.

_"Numair, I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you I loved you, but I s'pose it'll have to wait 'till your own journey here." Veralidaine's vibrant blue-grey eyes, wild with the pain, turned her gaze to Jeannett's. "Tell Kitten to go back to her family. Family are the most important thing." She drew in a deep breath, her last breath ever. "Look after Numair."_

Veralidaine had probably been trying to punish her. Yes, this whole façade was because she had killed Veralidaine. The thought gave no comfort.

"Mama, what are you doing?" Leanne's curious bark coloured eyes searched Jeannett as the lady fumbled with her pockets. Her voice held suspicion and the delicious tendrils of fear. She was right to be afraid. It would be the last emotion she had. She could hear the deep, calming breaths Leanne was taking. It didn't sound like they were working, and any effect they had on Leanne vanished when the steel object was visible. "Mama, put that down."

Jeannett stroked her precious knife. She felt so safe with it in her hand. Nothing could hurt her. _She_ did the hurting. _She_ caused the pain. "Now, darling, I love you, but you know something that I just can't let get around. So I'm going to silence you for eternity."

Leanne wrinkled her eyes up, taking Jeannett's measure. It was exactly what Veralidaine had done, sought out her weaknesses. Only, Jeannett had none. Except power, and a measly WildMage couldn't have offered her anything worth having. Nor, it seemed, could her daughter. But nothing kept her from trying. "I'll cast a silence spell on myself."

Jeannett had expected slightly more. "What? No 'please don't take my life'? No 'I love you, please let me live'? What about 'You're my mother, how can you kill me'?"

"Are these my doubts, or your own?" Leanne said evenly.

Jeannett realised why her daughter was so calm. "You don't think I can do it, do you? You don't think I have the nerve to carry it through." Leanne glanced at her. "I love your father. So, Leanne, I'm-"

"NO, YOU DON'T! DON'T GIVE ME THAT PATHETIC RUBBISH! YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH HIS POWER!"

Jeannett gazed at the child, incredulous. Fury curled around her body, swamping her in rage. She was angry now. She wanted blood. She stumbled forwards and the blade crashed into Leanne's heaving chest. Leanne let out a wail that rattled around Jeannett's head, a desperate, lonely cry of pain. She dropped to the stone floor, blood seeping out. Jeannett stood there.

That scream was what haunted her mind now. The never-ending anguish. Sorrow, loneliness, pain, fury, fear, all in one long sound.

The life had been ended.

The memory would live on in Jeannett Salmalin for eternity.

--

What did you think? Fantastic ending? No, thought not. I sort of lost it a bit. It was ok. Never mind. Check out Fickle Kisses, cos Raz's chapter is up. Oh, and visit it's brilliant. Join KCN if you haven't already (e-mail and Raz wants to set up a new club – Kill 'Della Now. Well, if she's offering…


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